Leica Sport Optics is pleased to welcome noted birding personality, David La Puma, as the new product specialist for the birding/nature markets.

Boasting a PhD in ornithology from Rutger's University, La Puma comes to Leica with 20 years of field experience from hotspots like the Florida Everglades and Cape May, NJ, to name a few.

La Puma frequently gives presentations at birding festivals and scientific meetings throughout the US and Canada. A highly acclaimed published author, La Puma maintains a well-known birding blog Woodcreeper.com, among other sites on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. He has taught birding and digiscoping workshops for approximately 10 years and is an expert in radar ornithology -using Doppler radar to identify important stopover habitat for migrant birds, as well as forecasting birding conditions across the US.

La Puma is not only a recognized birding personality, but he has been a diehard Leica fan for many years. In fact, he was a member of the first Leica digiscoping team for the World Series of Birding back in 2006.

"We couldn't have found a more qualified member of the community to join the Leica family," Jeff Bouton, manager of birding/nature markets for Leica Sport Optics, says. "David will be a great addition to our team. He brings a lifetime of birding experience, a great passion for the ornithological community, unmatched conservation ethics, tremendous communication skills and a natural gift for teaching. He was the very first person I ever saw digiscoping in the field during an Audubon Christmas Bird Count back in 2003, and he has owned Leica optics for as long as I've known him."

You can listen to a recent radio interview featuring La Puma on Ray Brown's Talking Birds by clicking http://talkinbirds.com/audio/talkinbirds_04_07_13.mp3#_=.

For more information, check out www.leica-sportoptics.com and visit Leica's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/LeicaBirding.